John Jerry takes his Hard Knocks beating with good humor

Mike BerardinoSun Sentinel

No, John Jerry said with a laugh, he hadn't heard yet from big brother Peria Jerry in the wake of this week's Hard Knocks evisceration.

"I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet but I’m pretty sure I will," the Dolphins right guard said of his brother, whom he'll oppose once again in Friday's third preseason game against the Falcons. "He’ll motivate me more than anything. He won’t criticize me."

The Dolphins offensive coaches -- coordinator Mike Sherman and position coach Jim Turner -- did enough of that during Tuesday's show to last Jerry a lifetime.

"It’s a job," Jerry said Wednesday at his locker, where he good-naturedly took questions for several minutes. "They’re supposed to be hard on you."

And the public criticism from his bosses?

"They expect more out of me," he said. "That pretty much says it all. When the coaches tell you they expect more out of you, you pretty much get it from there."

Jerry may finally be getting it under this new regime, which saw veteran backup guard Eric Steinbach retire on Wednesday and remains frustrated by nagging injuries to veteran guard Artis Hicks.

The weight is starting to melt off Jerry's ample frame, thanks to a double helping of daily practice reps.

He's down about 16 pounds since the start of training camp, the former third-round draft pick told me today. That puts him somewhere in the mid-340s and has made it possible for him to most likely start at right guard on Friday against the Falcons.

"I’m just on the right path right now," he said. "I've got to keep going."

Jerry credited his rapid weight loss to "just more commitment from me, just watching what I eat and also encouragement from my teammates."

Big Juicy, as one teammate called him Wednesday, showed some good humor by laughing uproariously at a spoof of his girth during this year's Rookie Talent Show.

"It’s all out of fun," he said. "You've got to enjoy things like that. When I was a rookie, I got a chance to talk about other players, so I enjoyed it."

As for the HBO cameras that showed him vomiting twice on the practice field in recent days, Jerry was philosophical about that as well.

"I’m not worried about that," he said. "That’s part of football. Everybody has one of those days. At the end of the day you got to have something to entertain people watching the show to keep them tuned in."